Did Donald Trump ever publicly criticize nurses during campaign rallies or debates?

1. What the coverage actually documents: policy actions, not rally invective

Reporting in this set of sources focuses on the Department of Education’s decision under the Trump administration to remove nursing from its list of “professional degrees” for the purposes of graduate loan limits and related policy changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act; outlets such as Newsweek, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times describe the rule change and its potential effects on graduate nursing students ^{[1] [2] [3]}.

2. Strong reactions from nursing organizations and media — framed as policy outrage

National Nurses United and other nursing organizations publicly condemned the administration’s move, calling it an attack on nursing education and warning it could worsen workforce problems; press statements and union releases are prominent in the coverage ^{[4] [6]}. News outlets reported widespread anger and alarm among nurses and nursing schools ^{[3] [7]}.

3. Administration defense and factual framing by the Department of Education

The Department of Education and allied commentary framed the change as technical and financially prudent, arguing many nursing programs don’t require the same expensive tuition as law or medical schools and that most nursing students borrow less than the new cap — the Department claimed 95% would not be affected ^{[8] [5] [9]}.

4. No sourced evidence here of Trump insulting nurses at rallies or debates

None of the provided articles, union releases, fact-checks or news reports allege or document public statements by Donald Trump at rallies or debates that directly criticize or insult nurses. The sources focus on admin policy, public statements by nursing leaders, and media analysis; Snopes and news outlets trace the controversy to regulatory changes, not to reported rally comments ^{[10] [2]}.

5. Misinformation and what the sources investigate

Snopes and multiple news reports emphasize how the debate has generated strong social media reaction and some online rumors; Snopes frames the story as a policy reclassification that spurred viral outrage rather than a discrete episode of candidate rhetoric directed at nurses ^[10]. Available sources do not mention any rally or debate quotes from Trump attacking nurses.

6. Competing perspectives and implicit agendas in the coverage

Advocates and unions present the change as undermining patient care and education access ^{[4] [7]}. Conservative and policy-commentary voices (for example in Reason) argue the change is a reasonable technical adjustment to loan categories and not an attack on nurses, highlighting tuition differentials between professions ^[8]. News organizations stress potential practical consequences; unions stress political and workforce harm — both frames reflect advocacy priorities.

7. Limitations and what’s not in these sources

These sources document administrative rule-making, reactions, and analysis; they do not report transcripts of rallies or debates where Trump directly disparaged nurses. If there were separate public statements at rallies or debates, those are not found in current reporting provided here. Available sources do not mention any specific rally or debate incident in which Trump publicly criticized nurses ^{[1] [2] [10]}.

8. Bottom line for your question

Based on the reporting and fact-checking in the supplied articles, the controversy centers on a policy reclassification and loan-cap changes that many nurses and nursing organizations interpret as hostile; the provided sources do not document Donald Trump publicly criticizing nurses at campaign rallies or debates ^{[4] [10]}. If you want confirmation about statements at specific events, request contemporaneous rally or debate transcripts and press coverage beyond these sources.